MATA Guard Pleads Guilty in Passenger’s Death

By Kate Simone

A Memphis Area Transit Authority security guard has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault involving an unruly passenger who died of complications three months later.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich announced the plea Wednesday, March 2.

Adicus Mitchell, 51, faces three to six years in prison when he is sentenced April 1 by Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee. He also is eligible to seek diversion or probation.

Mitchell, who was scheduled to go to trial this week, entered his plea Tuesday.

The incident dates back to May 6, 2014, at the MATA bus terminal at 444 N. Main St., where a bus driver notified Mitchell that he had an unruly passenger, according to the statement from Weirich’s office.

Robert Gray, 69, made obscene remarks to a female passenger and was slow to get off the bus when it pulled into the terminal.

Mitchell and Gray exchanged words in a confrontation that was captured on an audio-video recording. Mitchell forcefully shoved Gray out the front door, causing him to land face first on the concrete, where he lay motionless.

Gray was hospitalized in critical condition and two months later was transferred to a long-term care facility, where he died on Aug. 3. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be complications from blunt force head trauma.